The Fabulous Dorseys

The movie tells the story of musician and bandleader brothers Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey (played by themselves), from their upbringing in Pennsylvania coal country to modest musical beginnings in small venues, to eventual radio success. Their fiery temperaments cause them to clash with each other often, eventually leading to a split and them each forming their own orchestras, after which they find even more success. Also starring Janet Blair as a childhood friend, singer, and peacemaker between the brothers, and William Lundigan as a composer and piano player for the band, as well as love interest for Blair.

Tommy the trombone player and Jimmy the saxophone player are excellent musicians but horrible actors. Thus the script focuses more often on the fictional characters played by Blair and Lundigan, neither of whom are much more compelling than the Dorseys. The viewer also begins to notice that not much of dramatic interest happens in the Dorseys lives other than them bickering like brothers do, so the only saving grace is the music, much of it performed by singers and musicians of the day playing themselves in cameos. I'm not familiar with many of them, but the music they perform is fine, and I'm sure will be appreciated by fans of the style.

The true story of the rise of jazz/swing bandleaders Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, The Fabulous Dorseys' appeal rests primarily on its basis in reality (the Dorseys portray themselves, in fact) and the many live performances recreated for the film. As for plot, well, it has none to speak of. The supporting cast is ornamental, and character development consists, for all but the last 15 minutes, of little more than establishing that the brothers don't always see eye to eye. Also, the film commands top honors when it comes to abysmal lip-synching and faux piano-playing. Nevertheless, it's clear that the point is to showcase the Dorsey's music and quell any gossip that may have been going around, at the time, about the tension between the Fabulous Dorseys, and on that level, this musical biography is pleasantly entertaining.

I watched this film this afternoon and I am amazed that Janet Blair didn't become one of the great sex symbols of the era. It was only for this beautiful, sexy woman that made me stay with it, (plus the fabulous music). The script was dreadful, the acting (apart from Ms Blair), was embarrasing and the storyline was desperately dull. So in summary if an actress can make me stick like glue to a bomb of a movie like that, she must be something special. Surely we can at least have a headshot!

THE FABULOUS DORSEYS is not fabulous - a B feature with a C-minus script and D-plus dialogue - but the music at least is enjoyable, as I'd expect from a picture starring not one but two big bandleaders.

Laying aside the rickety wooden dialogue and nonexistent love duo, the story is compressed but basically true: poor Irish mining family produces two talented musicians who don't get along, but rise quickly through the band business, start their own outfit, then inevitably break up. As a band nut I'd have liked to see mention of some of the name orchestras of the 20s including the Dorseys - Jean Goldkette? Freddie Rich? - or of Joe Haymes, a forgotten talent who sold Tommy his first band. But that's just me.

Janet Blair (like the brothers a Pennsylvania girl, and one-time vocalist with Hal Kemp's band) just lights up the screen every time we see and hear her, leading us to wonder just what she sees in a stuffed-shouldered cluck like William Lundigan. Other vocal highlights come from ex-JD singers Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell and TD's then current crooner, Stuart Foster. Instrumental stars Art Tatum, Ray Bauduc and Charlie Barnet add heart to a jam session sequence. Paul Whiteman, gruff, fast-talking and positive, obviously liked playing Paul Whiteman, liaison between fiction and musical reality.

TD and JD are actually OK on screen - they weren't actors but one should not expect them to be. The fault there is with the mawkishly written dialogue that flops out of everyone's mouths. Their real personalities are visible, though toned down: Tommy's natural side-of-the-mouth cockiness, Jimmy's salty dignity of the veteran trouper. (In reality Tommy was profane and given to physical violence; Jimmy was quiet, decent but more than a little bitter, and both had long love-hate relationships with John Barleycorn.)

The real-life Dorseys - their music, their problems, their era - still await a full-dress Hollywood treatment before their names totally fade from the culture. It's easy to imagine, say, Ben Affleck and Ed Burns in the roles of TD and JD, complete with booze, broads, cuss words, flying chairs, and original orchestrations.

(PS: Those commenting about how over-the-top Mom and Pop Dorsey's Irish brogues were should understand that the actors playing them actually were Irish.)

The Dorsey Brothers were great musicians, and I admire their work greatly, but they weren't actors. They could carry off reasonable performances in cameo roles in films, like Tommy Dorsey did in the film "a star is born" but other than that, they were not worthy of a main role.

However, I am not here to dump this film; it has some fantastic music in it, including a great jam session with Art Tatum. We are treated to a fabulous amount of Dorsey hits like Tommy Dorsey's soulful rendition of "I'm Getting Sentimental over you" and Jimmy Dorsey's swingey rendition of "Tangerine".

Also, there are some enjoyable cameo appearances (apart from Tatum) that include the famous bandleader Paul Whiteman and the singer Bob Eberle.

The worst thing about this film is a romantic relationship that occurs between the DB band's pianist and the singer. This relationship has virtually nothing to do with the film, and amounts to an unbearable schmaltz.

"The fabulous Dorseys" isn't a bad film but you probably have to be a massive fan of the talented brothers to truly like this film. Enjoy the music! 7/10